Wherever the Wind May Take Me
by WinterSoulstis
Summary: Events pushed Rein to grow up at an early age, but even then she doesnt complain. Over the years she befriends many people and even manages to fall in love. Will these bonds push her to be stronger, or break her? Will she be able to save everyone she cares about? She won't let them down. She won't let him die. She'll stand against the world for him, but will it be enough? AcexOC
1. 1 - Difference of Opinions

**A/N: Okay I know this is kind of a strange way to start a story, but I think it works well. At least I hope it does o-o Tell me what ya think :3**

Large fluffy white clouds floated lazily above a rather peaceful day on Nome Island. Yes, the person who had discovered this out of the way piece of land had been too lazy to think up an adequate name for it and had literally named it "No name" Island. Nome means "no name": how original right? Not that anyone really cared what the place was named; the only reason anyone ever stopped by was for the excessive amount of food and bars the place had: especially bars. No joke, every third building you walked by was a bar of some sort. There were ones that were completely adult themed and no one under the age of 19 was allowed into, ones that families could go to for a quick snack, ones that served animals as though they were human while some didn't allow pets at all, there was even one that only accepted cross dressers and transvestites. Virtually anyone could come to this place and find a bar that worked for them. Thankfully, even with all the weird and eccentric types of establishments, there were some relatively normal ones.

The one that Rein was in was a normal enough bar. It allowed in underage people and let them order alcohol at their own risk, but, the limit was two glasses. Rein didn't really care about the limit however, she wasn't there to drink, just to waste time until her log pose reset and pointed out her next destination. She quietly sipped her Sherry Temple as she listened to the conversation that the patrons were now having. As she had learned, this particular bar was filled with people who lived on this island; everyone knew each other and so they had been sceptical of Rein when she had first entered, but when they figured out that she was no threat they began to ignore her. It seemed like they mostly discussed recent events and their views on the world. Recently the topic had switched to this island and its visitors.

"We need a larger marine presence," a loud man, who had earlier been identified as Greg, explained. "We're so famous for our bars that we get people from all over coming to this island and a lot of them are scumbag pirates." Rein rolled her black eyes at his comment but otherwise remained passive. She was the only one who saw anything wrong with that statement, everyone else was readily agreeing with him. Encouraged by his audience's enthusiasm he continued. "I know we already have a navy base here but there's only a few hundred marines and with the thousands of pirates that stop by they can't hold their own for very long."

"They should double the soldiers stationed here!" an old woman piped up. "With that many brave young people it would so much easier to preserve the peace and deliver justice."

A young man slammed down his mug in a show of agreement. "Absolute justice is the only way to keep the peace."

"We should kill all of the pirates," Greg added. "Only once they're all dead will I be able to sleep soundly at night."

"Isn't that a bit convoluted?" Rein piped up, butting into a conversation she had no business being involved in: at least, that's what those participating seemed to believe. However, this topic had become personal once they had lumped all the people who roam the seas without a seagull mark together.

"Convoluted?" Greg repeated slowly. The big man's eyes had grown hard as he looked at the 17 year old girl.

Rein gave a short nod. "You heard me." She made sure to stop her face from betraying what she actually felt, which at that moment was a growing amount of annoyance.

The old woman shook her head. "You don't know what you're talking about, you're just a child."

The girl rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You may be older than me, but I've been through more than you ever will." Rein frowned at her own outburst. Normally she kept such things to herself so as not to start something or cause trouble for no good reason. She took a breath and tried to calm herself down; she was really starting to get riled up, and it seemed as though she wasn't the only one. The entire bar was silent as they listened to the conversation and waited to see how things would unfold. The tension grew with every moment that passed and every sentence spoken.

The woman, eventually labelled as Margret, glowered at the redhead. She couldn't believe the nerve of young people these days, but she stocked it up to bad parenting and the fact that the girl was an outsider. "Didn't your parents teach you not to interrupt your elders? And to respect your seniors?" Margret stated in a disapproving tone.

Rein rolled her eyes once again, a motion that this time didn't go unnoticed. "I only respect those who deserve it." Her black eyes scanned the faces of all the bar's patrons, all of which held criticizing looks, before continuing. "And someone who actually thinks that absolute justice is the solution to all of their problems is an utter idiot."

"So what? Are you trying to say you're against peace?" Greg stated disapprovingly, his opinion of the stranger dropping with every second.

"I never said that!" she countered, hating how he was putting words in her mouth.

"But you hate the ones who uphold peace?"

"No!" Now Rein was getting aggravated; this guy was really grating on her nerves. "I'm not saying all Marines are bad. I don't generalize, unlike _some _people." That last comment was directed towards the burly man but either he was thick or he chose to ignore it. "I'm only against the fanatics of Justice."

"Justice is what keeps us all safe!"

"Not if you take it too far. Some people only use it to justify their inhumane actions!"

"Extremes must be taken in order to insure that evil will not win," Margret interrupted, adding her own opinion into the verbal fray.

"Evil?" Rein echoed, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Are you trying to say that anyone who sails the seas that isn't a marine are _evil_ and that they should all be killed?! What about the ones that just want to be free or to have adventures? The ones that would never hurt people who don't deserve it?" Her voice was now getting progressively louder.

The tense conversation had officially turned into a full blown argument. Both parties were yelling at each other, sadly, Rein was outnumbered thirty to one since everyone in the bar seemed to share similar view points and were now backing up Margret and Greg. At this point Rein was on her feet, hands gripping a nearby table so hard that it was beginning to crack. Most of the other people were also standing up, several had their fists in the air or were angrily brandishing their mugs. Rein glared at everyone and was about to shout a counter to the latest comment when she was interrupted by a bang.

The girl took a deep breath and slowly unclenched her hands, her joints creaking as they loosened. She turned her head towards where the sound had originated from and muttered a curse under her breath. In the doorway to the pub stood several men dressed in identical blue and white uniforms: Marines.

"What's going on here?" one of them asked, scanning the room and trying to figure out what the commotion was about. "The entire street can hear you people."

Rein sighed. "Nothing." she responded, sending a quick glare at Margret and Greg. "It was just a difference of opinions that got a little heated. Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"That's not what it sounded like from outside. We were called in by some concerned citizens," the marine retorted. "Now, we're used to dealing with rowdy small time pirates or some drunken brawls but we've never been called in on a complaint about this island's own residents. What's going on Greg?"

As they talked, the other officers were wandering around the bar; one of them stopped and was currently examining the cracked table next to Rein. She shot him a fake smile when he looked up at her. "Do I know you from somewhere?" he questioned, studying the girl. Her smile instantly dropped.

"Ummm..." Rein hesitated, frowning and deep in thought trying to remember if she had run into this guy before; she hoped she had, because the other option was far less pleasant. She came up with nothing.

A moment passed between them as the man was lost in his own thoughts. As a realization hit him he quickly grabbed something out of his jacket pocket and began leafing through it. Rein instantly recognized the papers and figured there was no point trying to deny or hide it any longer. She did a sweep with her leg and knocked the wooden table into the marine, sending them both crashing into the nearby wall. The papers went flying and scattered. Everyone looked at either the wall or Rein: all were stunned into silence.

Greg caught one of them, stared at it, then Rein, then back to it. "You," he stated, eyes narrowing. The girl held up her hand in a mocking wave. "How dare you try to poison us with your words?!"

The girl scoffed and got ready to run as Greg handed the poster over to the lead officer. "So I take it this means that I should get going?" she questioned sarcastically.

"You're not going anywhere," the navy personnel responded. "You're under arrest, Whirlwind Rein."

Said girl stuck her tongue out. "No thanks." With that said, she broke into a sprint and dived out the nearest window. Her sudden movement broke everyone out of their stupor; the remaining marines ran out of the bar after her while its patrons yelled and threw their bottles at her: none of them hit.

The chase went on for quite a while. Rein never lost her lead but she couldn't shake them either. She weaved between the buildings and vaulted over stands. Sometimes she would end up in a more crowded stretch and found herself leaping over people or brushing past them quickly, while the marines merely shoved the citizens out of their way. Several more minutes of this passed before the redhead groaned in frustration as she sped up further. Just her luck that on her wild run around the island she had passed right in front of the Marine base stationed in the area and the number of pursuers had rapidly multiplied until she had damn near the entire base after her. Thanks to her distracting all of the officers of the law, all the other criminals had taken this chance to escape before they too got caught up in this somehow. The streets were promptly emptied until the only ones left on them were Rein and her hunters.

* * *

From the shadows of an alley, a man watched an entertaining scene unfold. A small red haired girl was running away from an entire horde of marine soldiers. His black eyes followed her as she leaped over a cart and ran out of his line of sight with most of this island's navy force after her. He smirked as he looked down at the bounty poster clasped in his hand. It depicted the same girl who was now the talk of the town, staring at something out of the photo's range with a half smirk on her lips. Her hair was being blown partly into her face and she had a hand up to keep her side swept bangs out of her eyes. His gaze then went from the picture to the number written underneath. "150 000 000 beri," he read out loud. "With a bounty like that she should be able handle those guys. Interesting girl." Tucking the paper away into his jacket, the man jumped up onto the closest roof for a better view. He crouched down and proceeded to track the movements of the marines.

Over 20 minutes later the chase was still going on. The marines had started taking shifts, some would run after the girl, who was incredibly agile, and others would try different plans to trap her, all of which she somehow managed to evade, however, she was tiring. She had slowed down slightly and the gap between her and the marines was growing smaller. Not to mention that she had just barely made it past the most recent pitfall. The man supposed that he had watched for long enough, and with a quick ruffle of his blond hair he jumped down onto a side street and waited for the girl to make her rounds again; the marines had smartly put up a blockade at the port and had sunk all unknown or suspicious ships they could find so she was trapped and forced to constantly circle the landmass. If he was right, she would be passing by very shortly. He leaned against the nearest wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and waited.

* * *

This was ridiculous. Didn't these marines ever give up? Rein gave an aggravated sigh in between her pants. She rounded a corner and dodged a net some marines shot at her. The metal grazed her but she just kept going. She growled. After her speech about not harming innocent people she just couldn't bring herself to attack them for fear of destroying the nearby buildings and she didn't have time to check if anyone was still in them or not. There's no way she would ever completely forgive herself if it was her fault that people were trapped under rubble or died. Shouts of "Halt" and "Stop pirate" were heard from behind her but she paid no mind to them. Fatigue was really getting to her at this point and she almost tripped over her own feet as she landed on the other side of a pothole. Rein was about to keep heading straight ahead but someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley.

Rein held in a squeak at the sudden tug and fought to control the onslaught of thoughts that were rushing through her head. Had the marines finally smartened up? How had this guy snuck up on her? Was she going to have to fight? Her train of thought was interrupted when the man moved. He held up a finger to motion her to not say a word. Upon further inspection, Rein realized that this guy was unlike any marine she had ever seen; he didn't wear any semblance of a uniform, but that isn't to say he didn't have any distinguishing features. His opened jacket showcased his well earned abs and made no effort to hide the large, blue, and vaguely familiar symbol tattooed across them. Rein raised an eyebrow at him. He grinned and motioned for her to follow. She hesitated for a moment, but decided that she may as well try her luck with one guy than all those marines and did as she was instructed.

He led her down the winding and dark alleys until they reacted the coast. The man walked up to the edge of the cliff and pointed down below them. This was a section she had not previously been to and so she was pleasantly surprised by the sight she beheld. Cut into the wall of the steep cliff was a cave that one would have trouble seeing if they didn't know it was already there or if they only gave the area a quick scan. When she looked back to thank her saviour she found that he was already at the bottom and was waiting for her. She blinked before jumping down to meet him. He gave her a smile and led the way inside. Only once they were inside did he decide it was time to talk.

"Those marines chased you for quite a while huh?" he stated, starting the long awaited conversation as he made himself comfortable.

"Yeah... they sure are persistent,"she said, finally taking the time to brush off the dust and dirt that had accumulated on her clothes. As she dusted herself off she came across a cut on her cheek. She tsked as she found dried blood: obviously she hadn't been paying enough attention to her surroundings.

The blond man made a noise of agreement before continuing, "You did well evading them for so long."

Rein frowned at their nonchalant conversation. Surely there were better things to say to a girl who had been chased all over the island by the marine forces. She eyed him and tried to figure out what possible motives this guy could have for helping her out. With a sigh she gave up on trying to figure things out for herself and just settled for questioning him instead. "Do you know why they were after me?"

"I have an idea," he responded and threw something at the girl. She caught it and looked at it only to find herself staring back. In her hands she held the most recent copy of her bounty poster.

"Well, it seems like you know all about me," Rein said, "but I know nothing about you."

"I suppose I should introduce myself then, shouldn't I?" he mused, "I'm Marco, nice to meet you."

Rein blinked. "Marco?" She questioned, "As in, Marco the Phoenix?"

"That would be me."

"What's a big shot like you doing helping someone like me?" Now that she knew who this guy was she saw even less reason for him to have any interest in her. He had to have ulterior motives, right?

"I saw a very amusing scene this afternoon," he replied passively, "And I took interest in what you were saying earlier." He looked at her through his half lidded eyes and with a grin on his face.

"You heard that?" she asked, looking away from him out of slight embarrassment. She didn't like the fact that someone like him had seen that unruly side of her: one of the rare moments when she acted recklessly and didn't think about the consequences. Sure it was great to finally be able to speak her mind and do what she wanted, but the result wasn't worth it. Or was it?

"Half the town heard it," he stated. Rein made a face. Great to know that so many people had heard her outburst. "Don't worry about it," he commented, noticing the expression she was making, "The people here need to have their eyes opened anyway."

The girl made a soft sound of acknowledgement, but she was quickly losing focus on their conversation and getting lost in her own thoughts. Maybe the islanders were in need of a different opinion, but did she really have to lose her cool? They probably would have listened better if she had said everything more calmly, however, afterwards she probably wouldn't feel the way she did now. She felt great! Letting loose and saying what she had always wanted to say made her feel free, something she only ever felt when she was up in the clouds.

Marco studied the red haired girl as her thoughts wandered. He had always been good at reading people, and even if her face betrayed nothing, he caught a glimpse of her eyes and they told part of the story. As he gazed into the her black eyes he saw turmoil, and indecisiveness. Judging by her earlier reaction, Marco had a pretty good idea of what was bothering her. "You should let loose more often," he stated.

Rein snapped out of it and visibly flinched at his comment. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said lamely. He gave her an amused smile. The corners of her mouth twitched, she was itching to stick her tongue out but she knew how immature that was. Marco noticed the movement and shook his head at her reluctance. He decided to try a different approach.

"You're a pirate, right?" he questioned. Rein nodded in response. "Being a pirate is all about freedom, right?" She once again nodded. "So if you're a pirate you should be free, right?" She slowly nodded, now wondering where this was going. "Well then, are you free?"

Rein opened her mouth to answer, but quickly shut it. Was she free? Normally she'd immediately answer "yes", so why was she hesitating now?

Marco raised an eyebrow at the pause. "All it takes is a 'yes' or 'no'," he said. She bit her lip and stayed silent. "Well," he started, "If you're looking for the answer to that question then maybe you should come with me."

The 17 year old gave him a questioning look, "Go with you where?"

"Back to the ship," he responded. "At the very least, meet the rest of the crew. I think they'd like you."

"You don't know anything about me!" she exclaimed, unable to believe what she was hearing. Was Marco the Phoenix, First Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, honestly asking her to go back to the ship with him? She had the urge to pinch herself.

"It's just a feeling I've got," he said nonchalantly. "Only if you loosen up of course."

Rein scrunched up her nose and sighed. He had a point; maybe it was time to truly embrace the pirate spirit. Maybe it was time to let herself go and truly enjoy herself. For most of her life she had put on a facade and every time it was a different one. With her father and his friends it had been a happy and innocent child facade. With the enemies it had been a distant and uncaring facade. Now that she was alone it was a calm and calculating facade. She wasn't exactly sure what the real her was anymore, and maybe it was time to find out. Funny how a conversation with a random stranger could make her come to a realization that she should have had on her own ages ago. She owed him: big time.

She looked up to meet his gaze and gave him a smile, a real smile. "Thanks, but I think I'll have to pass."

"Oh really?" he asked, interested in her change in attitude.

"Yup," she affirmed. "Though, I may just take you up on that offer some other time." She turned to exit the cave, positive that the marine's weren't going to catch her now. Not to mention that now that she had had a moment to catch her breath and the fact that she was already on the coast, it would be no problem to get to her transport and leave. As the ocean came into view she paused and looked back towards the blond man. "Thanks for everything," she called, "I hope we'll meet again!"


	2. 2 - Rememberance

**A/N: I have to say that the One Piece timeline is confusing _ I tried to piece together when everything happened, like exactly when Thatch died or how long after Ace set sail did he join the Whitebeard pirates, but I've given up at this point and am just going to construct my own from inferences and logic and what works with my story so please don't review saying that the sequence of events don't match up to the canon, I'm trying, I swear, but things will change, ok? Ok. **

**Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the next chapter. And please review *.* **

**And many thanks to _LikeTheSky_, _Satu-Ryuu_, _Emz_ and _NamikazeMia_ for reviewing :D You guys are awesome!**

Rein opened one dark eye and immediately closed it again. The sun was way too bright for the half asleep girl. She groaned and got up into a crouching position. Fighting to keep her balance, she slowly stood and stretched. Finally working up the courage, she opened her eyes and squinted in the harsh light. She mentally cursed the sun and wished for some nice cloud cover. Once her eyes had completely adjusted she took in the view. It hadn't changed since she had fallen asleep. Still all around her was the sparkling greeny blue of the open ocean and above was a beautiful shade of light blue that Rein really wished would turn gray so that she could stop squinting. A quick check of her log pose showed that she was completely off course. She sighed and altered her sail and rudder to head towards her next destination. It really was a pain to sail alone. She didn't do it because she wanted to, she did it because she had little other choice: finding or making a crew would be too much of a hassle at this point. Only once she was certain that she was heading in the right direction did she sit back down. The wind was really blowing today and so she figured that she would just let it take her at its own speed, she wasn't in too much of a hurry so there was no need to exert herself to go faster.

She crossed her legs and leaned back against the mast. On her last look towards the horizon she hadn't been able to see even a glimpse of the closest island so she knew that she had plenty of time before she had a chance to restock her supplies. Her raft was too small to hold more than a day's worth of food and water so everyday she had to stop by an island to get more. Sometimes there were days when no islands were within reasonable distance and she had to go faster than the natural wind would allow to make it to the next piece of land in time to keep from starving.

The waves had a hypnotic effect on Rein and she was soon lulled into a half aware state. It was dangerous to be too relaxed in the Grand Line, but hours and hours of the same scenery was just too boring to keep her attention for very long and on her small vehicle she had nothing she could do to keep herself entertained: her only choices were to sleep, think, or watch the scenery around her. She couldn't fall back asleep so soon after waking up and so she just kept on watching straight ahead. Before her eyes the waves became progressively larger. The scene reminded the girl of something that had happened to her when she was a child.

* * *

_The little girl silently watched the adults argue; she knew better than to try anything, it would only make things worse. Still, she squirmed slightly, trying her best to make her movements go unnoticed by the men. Luckily, they were too busy trying to sort out who would do what to pay any mind to the eight year old. Said child was now slowly inching towards the window, not because she thought she could get out that way, but because she figured that her bright red hair would be easy to spot. Once the small window was directly behind her, Rein settled down, leaned back against it, and resumed staring at the pirates coldly. Soon she became unfocused and found herself wondering how long it would be this time. How long would it be until her father and his crew tracked down these pirates to take her back. How long until she was rescued. _

_When the pirates finally remembered about their young hostage they found her gazing at her bound feet with little to no emotion. "What the hell is wrong with this kid?" one of the pirates sneered. He picked the redhead up by her long hair until she was dangling in the air helpless. She closed her eyes in pain for a moment but did nothing else. "This little bitch doesn't talk or do anything, why the hell would anyone want her back?"_

"_Who cares why?" another one piped up, "All that matters is that this little brat is our ticket to fame and fortune." He chuckled and took a swing of his beer. His crewmate dropped the girl and she fell hard to the floor; even then she didn't make a sound, she just got up into a sitting position and looked up at them unwaveringly. _

"_Why are you people complaining about her being quiet anyway?" the First Mate spoke up, "If she was one of those annoying, whining, and crying little kids I'd probably have killed her by now to shut her up." The two other pirates gazed at their superior; he made a good point. _

"_But it's just no fun torturing someone if they don't scream or cry," the one who had picked up the girl said. Their conversation was interrupted by a shout._

"_Stop talking down there and get to your stations!" the Captain called out from above deck. _

_The First Mate quickly answered his captain's call and walked up the stairs, before he opened the door he turned back to the remaining pirates, "Plus, don't forget that we won't be stuck with her for very long." The others smirked at this, already they were imagining the riches they would have after they turned the little girl in to the Marines. Figuring that she was no threat, all the pirates systematically left the room to attend to their duties before the captain got into a bad mood. _

_Once the door shut behind the last one, Rein hopped to her feet and gazed out the window at the rolling waves. There wasn't anything she could do to pass the time so she merely stared at the sparkling ocean hoping to catch a glimpse of a specific ship. When over half an hour had passed and she had seen nothing Rein sat back down and closed her eyes; it had been the middle of the night when they had taken her and the fatigue was finally catching up to the little girl, even on an unknown pirate ship she managed to fall into a light sleep._

_Rein was jolted awake by a sudden impact. Her charcoal eyes snapped open and she looked around quickly; she was still alone, but the rest of the ship was in an uproar. Through the thick wood she could make out some shouts, things like "bring down the paddles!" and "which direction is the wind coming from? We need more speed!" could be heard. They were scared. A smile broke out on the child's face. This type of reaction could only mean one thing. They were here: they had to be! She got to her feet quickly and stared intently at the door, waiting for it to open again. It wasn't a long wait._

_A familiar faced poked through the newly opened door. The man caught sight of the red hair and immediately called for his captain. Less than a moment later Rein's father burst through the door and kneeled before the tied up little girl. The bonds were quickly cut before he hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I should have paid more attention. I had too much to drink; God I'm an idiot."_

_Rein pushed away from his grip and looked straight into his worried black eyes. "It's okay," she said. "I'm fine, see?" She did a little twirl to prove her point and did her best to refrain from winching at the tenderness of her wrists and ankles. Apparently she hadn't hidden it well enough because he was still frowning. She was tired, she was in pain, she was still somewhat frightened, but still she put a smile on her face. "Father, I'm perfectly fine," she assured him and the others that were standing in the doorway who had come to check in on her. "You guys got here quicker then last time. I'm sure you've set a new record or something!" No one was truly convinced but the girl's happy demeanour, whether it was real or not, slowly put the others at ease. Some even had smiles of their own, if nothing else, they were just glad that she was safe. _

_She took her father's hand in her small ones and gave him a huge smile. The 27 year old man looked at their hands and then at his daughter. He sighed before standing back up and turning to his crew. "Grab anything useful and take it back to the ship," he instructed, trying to get some alone time with his child. The men obeyed, sensing the atmosphere that was quickly turning more serious than it already was. Once everyone else had left to do as he had said, the man turned back to his daughter. He put his hand on her shoulder and gripped somewhat tightly. _

"_Father?" she questioned. She had never seen this look in his eyes before. It was full of regret, concern, and even some determination. He didn't respond and merely stood up. In silence they walked together back to the large ship with their mark painted on the sail: the mark she had been searching for the entire time she was captive. Once on board he turned to Rein. _

_She looked up at her father and once again asked what was wrong. This time he answered. "That's the third time." The girl tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner. "It's the third time this year that someone has been after you," he clarified. _

"_I'm pretty popular huh?" Rein stated, grinning up at him, her grin dropped somewhat when she saw the serious expression that remained on the man's face. _

"_Rein, listen," he began, turning to look out at the pirate ship his men were currently pillaging. "The attacks are getting worse, even with the entire crew on watch they still manage to get past us. For every ten attempts we foil, another one succeeds." _

_Rein looked down, everything he said was true, but why bring it up now? She was always fine, maybe she was a bit tired or bore a new scrape or two, but it was never that bad; they always got to her in time. So where was he heading with this? _

"_You should have some time to rest," he continued. "I know a man, he's currently living on an island not far from here. I was thinking that you should stay with him for a while."_

_The little girl's eyes widened. "What?" she questioned softly. "Why?"_

_He sighed and kneeled down to be at eye level with the small redhead. "It's for the best, we need to clear some things up with the idiots who think they can cross us and live. It would be better if you weren't there when we meet them." Rein didn't know how to respond, something like this had never happened before, but one thing she did know was that she didn't want to leave her father or his crew. "I realize that you don't want to go," he continued, "but it's for the best. Please understand." She bit her lip but nodded. "Now go get some rest. I'll wake you up when we reach the island." _

_Doing as she was told, the child went to her room and laid in bed. However, regardless of how tired she was, Rein didn't sleep a wink during the journey. _

* * *

_At the knock, Rein got off her bed and opened the door. "We've arrived," one her father's most trusted friends said, not looking too pleased about the whole affair either. _

_She gave him a smile, "I guess I'll see you later." He smiled back somewhat as he led her towards the deck._

_On the island, Rein's father stood tall as he talked to another man, only a few years older than himself, with black hair and piercing silver eyes that were narrowed in an unamused expression. "And why should I do this?" he asked. "We're not even friends."_

"_Come on Zephyr," he said. "It'll only be for a little while, and I know you'll come to like her."_

"_You call a year a "little while"?" the black haired man questioned, not at all pleased with the idea of having to take care of a little kid. _

"_A year?!" Rein cried, from the deck of the ship. She jumped, and regardless of the warnings, heaved herself up onto the railing to get a better view of the two men talking. "You didn't say it would be that long!"_

"_That's the kid?" Zephyr asked, even though he already knew the answer. He studied her for a moment before speaking again."I can see the resemblance. She's easy to pick out from a crowd." _

"_That's part of the problem," her father said with a sigh, "It would have been easier if she looked like her mother."_

"_Would it?" the black haired man inquired, giving the other a sideways glance. "Could you stand the constant reminder?"_

_Rein's father looked down at the ground briefly before meeting Zephyr's eyes sternly. "That isn't what I'm here to talk about," he stated, "Will you do it or not?"_

_The little girl huffed, annoyed at being ignored. "But father!" she protested loudly, climbing over the railing and dangling in the air as she tried to lower herself down from the large ship, not having the patience to drop the ladder and climb down. Her father freaked out when he saw her dangling meters in the air and sprinted to catch her as her grip slipped. She landed in his arms safely and shot him a grin as he put her down. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "Father I don't want to stay here!" she repeated, "I don't even know him." _

_Her father sighed as he fixed his hat, "We went over this, please Rein, it's only for a bit."_

"_A year is a long time!" She may have agreed earlier, but he hadn't given her any specifics, she had thought it would be for a week or so, not fifty-two. _

"_I know, and we're all going to miss have you on the ship, but this is for the best. We need to sort some things out. I promise it won't be any longer than a year, we may even get back earlier."_

_Zephyr, who had stood silently and watched the exchange was now getting impatient. "Suck it up," he intervened, "You're not always going to get what you want. It looks like we'll be stuck with each other."_

_A young Rein looked up at him, displeased. Hadn't he been against the idea of her staying just a little while ago? _

"_Thanks," her father said, no longer looking at Rein, "I owe you one." With that said he turned, his cloak swishing behind him, and got back on the ship. The little girl blinked. Did he just leave her? Once on board, he looked back down at his daughter. "One year. I promise. I'll miss you Rein, try not to stay mad for too long, alright?"_

"_He means _we'll _miss you," the First Mate corrected, coming up to the railing. With him came the rest of the crew, many in various stages of crying or depression. _

_As the ship sailed off everyone yelled their "goodbye"s or "see you in a year"s as they waved frantically and tried to get one last look at the child who on many occasions would brighten their day. The kid who would do her best to help in whatever way she could. She would bring them meals if they were injured or take the clean up jobs no one wanted. They really would miss the little girl whose smile was contagious even in dire situations. _

_Rein waved until her arm was sore and then waved some more for good measure. She waved her small arm until the ship was merely a dot on the horizon. Only then did she turn to her new guardian. He looked down at the girl, unimpressed. "If you're going to stay with me then we're going to lay down some ground rules," he said. _

* * *

Rein shook her head to clear away the memories. It was bad enough being bored with only the ocean to watch but having to suffer through Zephyr's long list of rules was more torture than she could take at the moment. She lazily gazed at her log pose to check she was still on course, amazingly she was, and then turned her attention onto the skyline. What she saw shocked her. There was an island. An actual landmass made of dirt and rocks that would hopefully have buildings made of stone and food to purchase or steal. The redhead got so excited she almost overturned on her raft. She hung onto the mast like her life depended on it, which it did; the Grand Line waters were dangerous for practically everyone, but even more so for people like her. Impatience getting to her now that she had finally seen earth again, Rein stood, breathed in, and sped up. She furled the sail, no longer needing the wind, the natural one anyway.

As she sped towards the destination she could finally see, her mind travelled one last time. She thought back to several days ago. A week earlier, the famous Marco, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and eater of the rare mythical Zoan type, the Tori Tori no Mi: Model Phoenix, had saved her from having to fight an entire Marine base and then, for some reason she still couldn't fathom, he had suggest she go meet the rest of the crew. Vaguely, she wondered if that offer still stood. She was honestly curious to see what the strongest crew in the world was like. Whenever someone was labelled with an impressive title people always thought the worst, but she was curious to see what they were actually like. But before she would try to find them, she figured she should get some more information on them first. Hopefully there was another Navy base on the next island.

**A/N: Sorry for the boring chapter... -.- There are going to be quite a few flashbacks in the beginning, of Rein's past, but hopefully you guys won't get too bored... it should pick up the pace soon :D I hope =.=**


	3. 3 - Information

**A/N: GRR Evil end of term tests! I've been so busy trying to boost my marks up the percent I need to get an A at the end that I haven't had much free time and when I did I really wasn't in the mood to write... Sorry to those people who I told it would be up around mid November... I'm a bit late ^^;**

* * *

Rein clapped her hands to brush the dirt off once she was satisfied that her raft was difficult to find by prying eyes. She had found the perfect crevasse in the rock wall; it just barely reached the full height of the mast so she had moved a boulder to hide it from anyone who would come down the beaten path, and lucky for her, the earth was similar in colour to the treated wood. Before leaving she did one last check to make sure everything was in place and out of sight. Content that it was, she headed up the hill towards civilization.

It took a little over an hour to reach the end of the road the winding path had led to. The young pirate blinked at the sight before her. A massive gate was imbedded inside the equally massive stone wall that surrounded the entire town, well, it wasn't a town exactly; it resembled a high class city more. There were guards stationed at the only way inside, both carrying several fully loaded guns and large swords holstered at their sides. The girl eyed them warily, she didn't want to cause any commotion: not yet anyway. She wondered if they were as updated with bounties as some of the Marines. Another scan of the area revealed that there were strategically placed market stalls that stretched along the wall for a kilometre on both sides of the gate to maximize the profits the island could receive. Judging from the line of people waiting with papers to enter the city and the snippets of conversation she could catch, it seemed like the place was called Agora City and it was renowned for its shopping. This was perfect. All she had to do was lift some papers off of a visitor, act calm, and bluff her way in. It was worth a shot, and it was definitely better than trying to find a nice cozy place to start wall climbing.

Rein may not be an expert on pickpocketing, but she did know a few handy tricks. Some of the tourists decided to browse the market wares before moving on to the probably more expensive things inside; it would be better to steal one of theirs since it'd take longer for them to notice than those already in line. If she was going to rob someone then she at least had to make sure it wasn't anyone she'd regret taking it from. She spent the next several minutes surveying the crowd; she walked along the side roads gazing at each person she passed, doing her best to size them up. Eventually she found herself stopping next to a jewelry stand: almost as if the sparkling precious metals had drawn her like a moth to a flame. Gold and jewelry weren't something she would wear, her plain black choker was more than enough, but she had to admit that the shining necklaces were definitely beautiful.

The merchant noticed her eyeing his wares and so he began his pitch. "You have a fine eye. These wares come straight from-"

She cut him off, "I'm not looking to purchase." As soon as the words had left her mouth the merchant lost interest and the young pirate was unceremoniously shoved from behind. She made a noise of indignation as she took a couple steps forward to regain her balance. "What was that for?!" she demanded, turning to look at the culprit.

Said person was a tall brunette young woman wearing the latest fashion and showing off several, most likely expensive, bracelets on her tan arms. "If you're not going to buy anything then make way for paying customers," she sneered.

"Ever heard of browsing?" Rein retorted, shocking herself. Just a little while ago, after the initial push she would have turned to see who it was but other than that she would have done nothing. This entire conversation was out of character for her, or maybe it was completely in character, she honestly wasn't sure anymore, and all this thinking about who she was was going to give her a headache. Rubbing her temples in a circular motion, she stared straight into the woman's eyes.

"Only the lower class stare at things they can't afford," she said haughtily, "It's a form of poetic punishment they inflict upon themselves."

The redhead looked at the other person in disbelief. "Excuse me?" What was wrong with this woman's attitude? And her view on things was majorly skewed.

"You heard me. Now move aside, your shadow is stopping my new earrings from sparkling."

Rein rolled her eyes but complied. She brushed past the brunette on her way back to the main road, leaving the other woman feeling like a chilling breeze had swept by her; she shivered slightly as she tried on golden necklace after golden necklace. After her encounter with that brunette she went back towards the gate and joined the line that had grown since she had last been there. She unclenched her hand and took a look at its contents. In her grasp was a slip of paper: a document she had lifted from the rude woman at the stand. The name on the sheet identified the other woman as a Katarina Summers, and informed Rein of her new alias. She opted to read the entire document as she stood in line, which was a good idea since it had several guidelines and laws of the city and stated how the document worked. There were different levels of permits because apparently the city was popular enough to warrant limits on the amount of time people could spend inside: the shortest being two hours and the longest being a week. The longer someone wanted to stay the more it cost, lucky for them that buying a higher level permit also included the cost for a hotel. The papers Rein had pick pocketed from Katarina were of the highest level which gave the girl plenty of time to accomplish her goals and reassured her that it would not be truly missed. After all, if Summers could afford something like this then it would only be a minor nuisance to get another delivered.

As time wore on, the redhead found herself getting irritated. It wasn't that she was impatient, she was actually very patient, but the longer this line took the higher the chances that Katarina would realize she was missing something; thank the gods that she was a ridiculously slow shopper. Another 20 minutes later it was finally Rein's turn to meet the guards, she swallowed and calmed herself.

"Pass," the guard on her right demanded. She handed him the slip which he studied for a moment before starting with the usual round of questions. "Name?"

"Katarina."

"Reason for visiting?"

"Pleasure; I'm here to get something I've got my eye on."

"Duration of stay?"

"Not sure, less than a week."

"Which hotel you staying at?"

Rein hesitated; she didn't remember the document saying anything about her hotel, and she couldn't just take it out of his hand to check. Finally she answered, a tiny hint of uncertainty hidden in her voice, "I'm staying with my boyfriend, but if we have a fight the hotel is my back up plan."

The guarded eyed her for a moment. Silently she prayed that there really was a residential district inside. Apparently there was. "Very well." He stamped her papers with their expiration date and handed them back. She thanked him and headed pass the gate, disappearing from view on the crowded streets almost immediately. Once she could no longer see the massive structure she let out a heavy sigh of relief. She had made it inside, now came the tedious part, and then the fun would finally begin. On her way towards the centre of the city she passed an abundance of stores and even a few more stalls, which she shoplifted a baguette from and, thanks to the mass of people, managed to get away unnoticed.

* * *

Rein stared at the tall stone structure with a devious smirk on her face. It had taken quite a few hours of searching and getting lost, as well as some innocent questions to other shoppers, but she had finally found this island's Marine base. Now it was time to get to work.

The building was far too large to merit her taking a walk around the entire perimeter; it didn't help that it was stationed with its back to a cliff, though she had to admit that that was a smart move on their part. The only way to enter was via the main entrance or a fun wall climbing trip. Although, flying would sure make things a lot easier, sadly, there were only a few Devil Fruits that could do that, and her's wasn't one of them. She hadn't done anything like this before, but she had an idea that should work. Well, it was now or never. With a sigh she resisted the urge to roll up her long blue sleeves for no apparent reason, and went through the door. Almost literally; well to be more exact she went through all the cracks. Once she passed by the Marines that were standing guard right on the other side who blinked at the sudden breeze, her body reformed rapidly in a nearby room.

As soon as her body was materialized again she peeked her head through the doorway and looked around. No one had noticed anything: so far so good. However, at the sound of incoming footsteps she ducked back inside and waited. As she waited she opted to take a look around the room she had emerged in. It was an office of some sort. On a wall adjacent to the large pane glass window hung a faded map of the city. According to the map, Agora was spilt up into five districts, each with their own classification be it dining, shopping, residential, recreational, or political. The shopping sector was by far the biggest of them all. The map was even colour coded; apparently this office's owner was somewhat of a neat freak. Regardless, as great as a map of the city was, what she needed right now was to find her way around the base, and here she couldn't ask for directions. Once the talking and footsteps faded she made her move.

The building was bigger than she gave it credit for, and, annoyingly enough, Rein was quite certain she had seen the exact same landscape painting three times now. She huffed and opted to make a turn to the left instead of the right she had planned on taking. She turned the corner at the same time that two marines were heading down the hall.

A brunet was recanting some story excitedly and directed all his attention towards his friend since eye contact was said to be key when trying to engage an audience. The other, however, looked quite disinterested about the whole ordeal and was staring straight ahead; it was this man that halted in the middle of his stride, forcing his now confused friend to stop as well. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Did you just see...?" he started, still blinking.

The brown haired man raised an eyebrow. "See what?" he questioned. After he looked around for a moment and saw nothing out of the ordinary he stated, "I think the hours are getting to you man."

"But... there was red!" His friend protested, rubbing his eyes once again just to be certain.

"Red?" his friend asked, raising his second eyebrow to join the first.

"Not just red, but black and blue too! And-" he cut himself off and shook his head. "Right... never mind... I think the light was being weird or something, ignore me."

The brunet laughed. "I was planning on it," he replied with a grin. His friend nudged him as they started walking again. They turned to the right and their voices died out the farther they got.

Rein exhaled in relief that they were finally gone; her limbs were starting to cramp up, overall, she was not in the most comfortable position. She relaxed her muscles and dropped down from the ceiling where she had stretched herself out to cling to the overhead rafters. One of the marines had caught a glimpse of her before she had jumped up, but lucky for her they hadn't thought to look upwards. The girl bit her lip; she really needed to be more careful.

After almost an hour of hiding from the naval officers and stealthy sneaking around the more crowded areas, the redhead managed to stumble across an empty office that held a map of the base. "About time," she mumbled as she smoothed the parchment's creases to get a better look at the layout. As she tried to plan her route she talked aloud, finding it easier to keep her thoughts in order once they were voiced. Her black eyes scanned the blueprint as she tried to get a sense of where she currently was. "I passed by the infirmary a little while back," she mused before placing her finger down on the little square labelled "infirmary" and traced the route she thought she had taken. Once she had an approximate location she began to search for the word "archives". Less than a minute later she located the small printed word and groaned aloud at the realization that she was at the opposite end of the base from where she wanted to be. With a sigh she rolled the paper up, tucked it into one of the deep pockets of her black capris, and headed off.

Now that she actually knew where she was going, it took just over twenty minutes to get to her destination. The girl came to a stop in front of a set of large oaken doors. Rein frowned at the doors as she noticed they were closed, if she just opened it and someone was inside she'd have a problem; there might not be time for her to thoroughly search the place if someone alerted the others, but she didn't see any other way inside. She shrugged, took a deep breath, and opened one of the doors.

An awkward moment of silence stretched on as the young pirate stared at the older marines and vice versa. They had paused in the middle of reorganizing files: one was on a ladder as he tried to grab a high up folder, another one was balancing way more manila envelopes than he should have been holding in his arms, and the other one was blinking at her as the ink from his quill splattered onto the document he was supposed to be updating. No one said anything for what felt like several minutes, but it had actually been twenty or so seconds. Eventually, one of the marines dropped what he was carrying and open his mouth to shout. Rein's eyes narrowed in determination as she sprinted forward and tackled him to the floor with a hand covering his mouth. He struggled and slowly managed to pry her hand away; she was stronger than she looked. Frowning, the red haired girl tensed her hand and and hit him in the throat roughly enough to cause the man to blackout from the sudden deprivation of oxygen and the force of the hit.

"Ensign!" the other two called out when they saw their superior officer wasn't going to get back up. They drew their weapons and simultaneously charged. Rein blinked and swiftly rolled off the unconscious marine just in time to avoid the swings of their swords. Straightening up, she eyed the door to make sure no one else was coming before running towards them. They raised their swords again to strike but she ducked under the swings. From her new position in between them, the girl grabbed both of their heads and bashed them together, successfully knocking them out. She hopped over a limp body on her way towards the door; once there she looked around and after making sure the coast was clear she gently closed the door.

Turning back to look more carefully at the room, she vaguely notice it was in fact quite large. There were shelves upon shelves filled to the brim with files on every and any pirate one could think of. Rein crossed her fingers that there was some sort of easy to understand filing system or else she would be here quite a while. The girl ran a hand through her shoulder length hair before cracking her fingers and getting to work.

* * *

Over an hour and a half later the redhead stood in front of the umpteenth shelf with a deep grimace and a slight twitch in her eye. "Why does the print have to be so small?" she whined as she grabbed another couple boxes of files and dropped them automatically on the nearby table. They landed with a thud which instantly brought her out of her stupor. She bit her lip and hoped that no one would walk through the door. When no one did, she breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down in a chair. She took the lid off the first box, took out the top file, and felt her breath hitched in her throat. A smile broke out on her face as she squashed the urge to cry out in joy that she had finally found it. Although, there were way too many for her to read on the spot. Quickly she skimmed through the papers and pulled out only the things that caught her interest: bounty posters of the most prominent figures from the Whitebeard crew and a quick overview of their stats and crimes. She was still left with a small book worth of pages but it was better than the two full boxes that were filled with every little detail they had on the crew. Tucking the folder under her left arm she replaced the boxes back on the shelves to give the Marines pause at what her objective was during her little break in and then walked over to the window. She sighed when she saw that there was no way she could leave through there, however, it did have a nice view of the ocean from where the cliff ended.

With another sigh Rein turned back towards the doors and threw them open, for effect if nothing more, straight into the face of yet another marine. "Man my luck sucks today," she stated rather calmly considering the situation she was about to be in.

"Whirlwind!" one of the men who had not had their nose smashed into a door exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!" He eyed the folder she was carrying warily.

Said girl smiled sweetly before leaping over their heads and running down the hallway they had just come from. They stared after her in shock for a moment before they also started running, yelling after the wanted pirate. A minute later the alarms started.

Thanks to the loud and persisting blare from the sirens Rein now had at least half the base after her. And they were pissed: not about the fact that she had stolen information from them, but the fact that she had been able to calmly wander around their base for hours doing as she pleased before they had finally become aware of her presence. When one of them brought up that fact her taunting reply had been, "Well it's not my fault you can't do your jobs properly." Her words were met with angry shouts and gunfire. She sped up after that.

* * *

The girl burst through the doors at the main entrance and took off down the streets. They were half as crowded as they had been earlier, but that was to be expected since night had fallen while the redhead had been touring the area; well, getting lost would be more precise. Agora still had enough of a night life that several people were unceremoniously shoved aside to make way for what probably looked like some strange comedy skit: a hoard of strong men chasing after a lone girl as they waved their weapons in the air threateningly and shouted angrily. This scene soon became a common sight since the group ran through the majority of the city as Rein led them towards the only exit; there were quite a few close calls, but overall she managed to stay a good distance from her pursuers and got away with only a scratch or two.

The chase had been going on for quite a while now and people were tiring. One of the Marines at the front of the pack groaned out loud and said, in between pants, "What is with her stamina?! This is ridiculous!" By now they had reached the path that led to her raft, which she had dubbed the "Breaker"

for its knack to get away from some absurd situations unscathed. Instead of using the dirt road however, Rein ran straight off the cliff, prompting cries of "Is she insane?!" and "Stop! Cliff!" as everyone huddled around the edge to try to get a closer look at the expected body. To their astonishment and dismay, Rein merely waved up at them from her position on the ground with a cheeky smile; she was perfectly fine and standing in the midst of newly risen cloud of dust.

"What the hell is up with this girl?! She can't be human!" One of the Marines cried out, eyes wide as he studied the great distance from where they were standing and the ground below.

An older marine, and most likely a superior officer, responded, "She's a Devil Fruit user."

"Then why hasn't she fought back yet?" another questioned.

To this Rein replied, "I will if you insist on following me."

"The hell?! She can hear us?!"

"If you listen carefully, the wind carries your voices quite nicely," she yelled back up at them. Murmurs swept through the officers and Rein made a motion that looked similar to a shrug before bolting for her Breaker. Shouts followed as the Marines scrambled to sprint down the road to get to her before she got away; some poor unfortunate souls ended up being shoved off the cliff in the mad rush and plummeted to their deaths. She jumped down into the crevasse, landed firmly on her raft, and shot out of there, not even bothering to unfurl the sail, it was faster this way anyway.

* * *

The girl cast the occasional glance at her log pose as she sailed away from the island. She debated between the steady needle and the semi shaking one when her thoughts were interrupted by a large splash from beside her. She swerved somewhat as she heard more blasts on the way. Turning to look behind her she made a face at what she saw. Two large battleships were in hot pursuit and firing their cannons at her. She zigzagged as more cannonballs landed in the waters beside her, soaking her from the residual spray. Honestly, she was amazed that they had managed to spot her in the darkness, but now was not the time to be impressed. She took a breath, clenched her hand into a fist, pulled back, and punched as she called, "Gale Strike!" A large current of wind emanated from her fist and shot towards one of the Marine ships. Said ship halted its advance and was forced backwards as the wind made contact with it and the water in front of it. Shouts were heard and half the cannonballs stopped. While she had been paying attention to the ship on right, the one on her left got a lucky shot in; a ball landed a mere few inches away from her transport causing the whole thing to tilt precariously to the side from the resulting wave. Rein did her best to hold on, but the wood was made slippery from the ocean spray, her hands slipped several times, worst of all, her log pose, which had always been a big large for her wrist, slipped off and fell into the dark waters, never to be seen again. The wet redhead let loose a string of curses as she readied to finish off the Marines.

* * *

It had been several days since Rein had lost her log pose and she was still sailing through the waters of the Grand Line, starving and thirsty; without any way to find the next island she was lost at sea and getting weaker by the moment. She fought hard to keep her eyes open in the scorching heat, but it was a losing battle. Black was creeping across the edges of her vision and she knew it wouldn't be long before she passed out.

Several thoughts ran through her head. Was she really going to die this way? She had always wanted to be laid to rest out on the ocean, but this was too early. Way too early. She hadn't even gotten close to her goal yet. She was going to die and all because of a foolish mistake on her part. She knew she should have gotten the bracelet tightened ages ago, but it always kept slipping her mind and she hadn't deemed it a priority so there was never great initiative for her to do anything about it.

Soon her thoughts became muddled and she was forced to lean back to help stop her reoccurring dizziness. The last thing she saw before blacking out was a large white blob that looked like it was heading in her general direction. Her last thought was the hope that the blob wasn't a seaking; that was the last thing she needed.


End file.
